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With Australia now holding an eight-points-to-nil lead, the best England can hope for is to win both remaining T20s and the Test to draw the series

Valkerie Baynes20-Jan-2025Injury-hit Australia retained the Women’s Ashes after Beth Mooney’s assured innings led them to a thumping 57-run victory in the first T20I at the SCG.A spirited 59 off 30 balls by Sophia Dunkley kept England in the contest with superb placement and power after they were asked to equal their highest successful run chase in T20Is. But spin duo Alana King and Georgia Wareham claimed five wickets between them as England were bowled out for just 141 in 16 overs.The hosts were missing regular captain and keeper Alyssa Healy, who was ruled out with an injury to the same right foot in which she ruptured the plantar fascia at the T20 World Cup in October, and Ashleigh Gardner, the star of their 3-0 ODI series sweep, to a calf strain.It was the first time Australia had played a T20I without both Healy and Gardner in their XI in 12 years and the first international match both had missed since an ODI in February 2016. That gave young opener Georgia Voll her T20I debut after she had impressed in Australia’s ODI series against India in December, replacing Healy who had a knee injury at the time.But it was Mooney, also standing in as wicketkeeper for Healy, who anchored Australia to an impressive 198 for 7 in their 20 overs with her 51-ball 75 amid a spate of sloppy fielding from England. Tahlia McGrath was Australia’s next-best batter with a rapid-fire 26 from nine deliveries. Mooney also claimed two catches.With Australia now holding an eight-points-to-nil lead, the best England can hope for is to win both remaining T20s and the Test to draw the series, which would still see the hosts retain the trophy.While a crowd of 9,279 turned out on a pleasant Monday night in Sydney during the summer school holidays, the lopsided Ashes contest overall doesn’t auger particularly well for Cricket Australia’s hopes of luring a big crowd to the MCG for a day-night Test that could well be a total dead rubber.

Handy replacement

Voll planted her front foot and heaved the fourth ball she faced in T20Is – off Freya Kemp – powerfully over mid-on for four. A couple of fielding errors by England were exacerbated when Lauren Bell dropped Voll on 13. Bell couldn’t look as the ball ran down to fine leg for a second of three consecutive fours off Charlie Dean, bookended by two convincing slog-sweeps through square leg.But Bell made amends when she pinned Voll in front of leg stump for 21 off just 11 balls in the next over with the Australian burning a review in the process. Voll’s exit brought Phoebe Litchfield to the crease and, as she foretold in the lead-up to the match, she took a liking to England’s spin attack. She slammed legspinner Sarah Glenn’s third ball through cover for four, followed immediately by a stunning switch-hit for six over cover point.Beth Mooney swings into the leg side•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Mooney shines

Mooney, meanwhile, rode her luck, dropped by wicketkeeper Amy Jones on 16 after overturning an lbw decision, she skied the last ball of Glenn’s opening over towards cover only to see the two close-by fielders watch it fall to the ground between them. But then Heather Knight saved England’s blushes straight after the drinks break with an excellent direct hit from mid-off to remove a diving Litchfield at the non-striker’s end as she chanced a single.England’s fielding picked up for a time, albeit from a low base, with Jones completing a sharp stumping to remove Ellyse Perry, Danni Wyatt-Hodge proving reliable running in from deep midwicket as Annabel Sutherland holed out and Maia Bouchier almost coming to grief with a good diving effort at long-off to prevent a four by McGrath. Bouchier appeared to hurt her shoulder badly but recovered to remain on the field. All the while, Mooney kept the Australian innings going apace. She brought up her fifty off 37 balls and she and McGrath helped themselves to 17 runs off Bell’s third over. While Sophie Ecclestone ended McGrath’s innings with an excellent delivery that dipped and skidded onto the stumps between the batter’s legs, Mooney pressed on until she was stumped strolling past a Kemp delivery, by which point, her work was done.Georgia Wareham and Alana King took five wickets between them•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Dunkley keeps England in it

England’s pursuit began poorly when Bouchier sent the second ball of the innings, from Megan Schutt, straight to deep backward square and Wyatt-Hodge followed driving a Kim Garth outswinger to Litchfield in the slips. Dunkley picked off three sixes and 22 runs in all off Garth’s next over though. King, playing her first T20I in nearly two years, struck with her first ball, a short legbreak that beat Nat Sciver-Brunt’s attempted pull and clattered into middle stump. But Dunkley’s timing was superb as she picked gaps with precision and cleared the boundary four times. She raised her fifty off just 24 balls, the second-fastest scored against Australia in T20Is and equal to second-fastest in the format.King claimed her second wicket straight after drinks when Australia appealed to the DRS to remove Knight lbw trying to reverse-sweep and McGrath’s cutter crashing into Dunkley’s leg stump felt like the end for England. So it proved as the visitors lost their last five wickets for 25 runs in 3.1 overs with Wareham removing Jones, Ecclestone and Dean.

Alongside Shafali, she helped Capitals make easy work of the 128-run chase after the seamers shared seven wickets

Hemant Brar25-Feb-2025The Delhi Capitals (DC) seamers shared seven wickets between them before Jess Jonassen’s unbeaten 61 off 32 balls made short work of the chase to give her side a six-wicket win over Gujarat Giants (GG). The result lifted DC to the top of the WPL points table, at least for the time being. They now have three wins from five outings. GG remain rooted to the bottom with one victory from four matches.When Meg Lanning put GG in after winning the toss, she was hoping for early wickets. Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey did not disappoint their captain. They picked up two each in the powerplay and reduced GG to 20 for 4. Soon it became 60 for 6, and it looked like GG might not even cross 100. But Bharti Fulmali’s 40 not out off 29 balls from No. 8 steered them to 127 for 9.DC lost Lanning early in the chase but Jonassen, promoted to No. 3, and Shafali Verma added 74 in just 6.1 overs to kill the contest. When Kapp hit the winning boundary, there were still 29 balls left in the match.

Kapp, Pandey leave Giants gasping

As she often does, Kapp got the ball to shape away from right-hand batters consistently. Harleen Deol, opening the innings, nicked one such delivery but the edge fell just short of Lanning at first slip.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Deol could not enjoy her luck for long, as Kapp induced another outside edge in her next over. This time the ball carried comfortably into the gloves of Sarah Bryce. Phoebe Litchfield, who had replaced Laura Wolvaardt in the XI, lasted just three balls; Kapp trapped her lbw for a duck.Kapp’s double-wicket maiden left GG on 16 for 2 after four overs. In the next over, Pandey made it worse for them with wickets off back-to-back deliveries. Beth Mooney had started the over by crunching Pandey through the covers for four. Pandey switched to around the wicket and found immediate success as Mooney’s pick-up shot landed in Niki Prasad’s hands at long leg.Pandey and Prasad combined once again on the next delivery to see the back of Kashvee Gautam, whose attempted pull from well outside off skied towards deep midwicket. Prasad ran in and dived forward to complete a low catch.For the hat-trick ball, Pandey went short again. She beat Deandra Dottin on the pull and hit her on the helmet. After a concussion check, Dottin flat-batted the next ball down the ground for four. In the next over, she repeated the shot against Kapp for the same result. Those boundaries lent the score some respectability as GG finished the powerplay on 31 for 4.Bharti Fulmali scored an unbeaten 40 off just 29 balls•BCCI

Fulmali leads the fightbackIn the ninth over, Titas Sadhu castled Ashleigh Gardner, GG’s captain and their in-form batter, for 3 off 9 balls. Two overs later, Annabel Sutherland put an end to Dottin’s counter-attack. But Fulmali, playing her first game of the season, led the fightback. In the 15th over, she pulled Minnu Mani over deep square-leg for the first six of the innings. Along with Tanuja Kanwar, she added 51 in 40 balls for the seventh wicket and steered the side past 120.

Lanning’s diminishing returns

Lanning is the second-highest run-getter in the WPL. But apart from her 69 against UP Warriorz, she has struggled this season. Tuesday was no different. After being beaten by Dottin in the opening over, she tried to pull Gautam. But the ball came back in sharply to flatten her off stump. She made 3 off 13 balls.It has been a case of diminishing returns for Lanning. In the 2023 season, she scored 345 runs at an average of 49.28 and a strike rate of 139.11. The following season, while her runs tally remained almost the same, her strike rate dropped to 123.04. This time, her numbers read: 109 runs from five innings at an average of 21.80 and a strike rate of 103.80.Shafali Verma struck a few boundaries in the powerplay•BCCI

Jonassen, Shafali kill the contest

DC’s move to send Jonassen at No. 3 paid off handsomely, especially with one square boundary being significantly shorter than the other – 51 metres vs 63 metres. When the shorter boundary was on Jonassen’s leg side, she scored 23 runs off eight balls in that region, including both her sixes. She was aggressive against every bowler. Her lowest strike rate was against Gautam, off whom she scored 15 off nine at 166.66.Shafali preferred the leg side irrespective of which side the shorter boundary was on. Of her 44 runs off 27 balls, 32 came on the leg side. When Gardner trapped her lbw in the ninth over, DC had already reached 88.Jonassen brought up her maiden WPL fifty off 26 balls. Even though DC lost Jemimah Rodrigues and Sutherland cheaply, their win was never in doubt.

The Division Two leaders are working with a bit-part attack due to injuries and the MLC

ECB Reporters Network29-Jun-2025Middlesex 336 for 5 (Robson 133, De Caires 76, Walker 3-57) vs LeicestershireAfter the euphoria of winning at Lord’s for the first time in 45 years last month, Division Two leaders Leicestershire were made to toil for rewards against the same opponents at the Uptonsteel County Ground, where Middlesex opener Sam Robson posted his first Rothesay County Championship hundred of the season.Middlesex finished on 336 for 5 after Robson made 133, the 37th first-class century of the 35-year-old batter’s career. Earlier, Josh De Caires, still looking for his maiden first-class century after 37 attempts, scored 76 in an opening stand of 173.Leus Du Plooy, captain in the absence of Toby Roland-Jones, who is sidelined by a gastric bug, was out for 56 in the penultimate over.In a Leicestershire attack without four of the bowlers that forged the victory at Lord’s, seamer Roman Walker took the first three wickets to fall and currently has career-best figures of 3 for 57.The pitch had a healthy covering of grass but where the sight of a similar surface in April with a Dukes ball in hand would have had a bowler licking his lips, a Kookaburra on a bone dry day in late June is a different proposition.It made for another of the attritional days that are becoming familiar when the Kookaburra ball is in use – not perhaps the best day to have been chosen for the supporter-led County Cricket Day initiative in which Leicestershire, among others, are participating by offering free admission.Perhaps mindful of Monday’s forecast for still hotter conditions, and how the contest might look on day four, Leicestershire captain Peter Handscomb handed Middlesex the chance to bat first. His side extended their lead by virtue of a draw with Glamorgan last week and may be happy simply not to lose this one. Middlesex, next to bottom, desperately need a win.They had 119 on the board by lunch, with no losses. Robson and De Caires completed half-centuries with boundaries off Logan Van Beek in the final over before the break, the home attack leaving the field wicketless in the opening session of a match for the first time this season.Granted, they were lacking Tom Scriven, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Mike and Josh Hull because of injuries, while their leading wicket-taker of the first half of the season, Ian Holland, is playing Major League Cricket for Washington Freedom. Nonetheless it was a disappointing session for the home attack, who failed to create a real chance.Middlesex added a further 100 between lunch and tea, albeit for the loss of two wickets, when almost all of the meaningful action from the home side’s stance took place in the space of five deliveries as Walker, playing only his fifth Championship match in four seasons at Grace Road, dismissed De Caires and Max Holden.Finding some movement off the seam with a ball 47 overs old, Walker had the former caught behind off an inside edge, and, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Holden, straightened one enough to pass the outside edge and clip off stump, removing Middlesex’s leading scorer for a duck.The 24-year-old ex-Glamorgan seamer – in the last year of his current contract – picked up his third 10 overs after tea as Robson, whose hundred had come off 185 balls, for once failed to control his shot and was caught at gully.It was a decent catch by Sol Budinger, yet merely a warm-up for what might be the best of the 25-year-old’s career – so far or still to come – five overs later as new batter Ryan Higgins flashed at Ben Green. Now at backward point, Budinger dived for a ball going past him to his left six inches above the ground and somehow caught it with his right hand.That left Middlesex 271 for 4. They would have been 286 for five had Green, at mid-off, not dropped a dolly chance offered by Ben Geddes off Van Beek on 11, although he at least partially atoned by having Du Plooy caught at second slip when looking well set for day two.

Seattle Orcas pulled off the highest successful chase in MLC after Nicholas Pooran (108* in 60 balls) and Tajinder Singh (95 in 35 balls) had taken MI New York to 237

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2025In a game where 475 runs were scored, it came down to Seattle Orcas needing nine from the last six balls to beat MI New York. And they almost failed to get them, with Kieron Pollard bowling three dots. But, with six needed off the last ball, Shimron Hetmyer got on one knee to a full delivery on off stump and walloped it over square leg. Just like that, Nicholas Pooran’s 60-ball 108 and Tajinder Singh’s 35-ball 95 went in vain.It was Orcas’ first win of the season, under new captain Sikandar Raza and without an official head coach in place. And also the highest successful chase in the two-and-a-half-season-long history of MLC.Chasing 238 isn’t easy in the best of times, and Orcas came into the game having lost all five of their earlier games, to which they reacted by parting ways with head coach Matthew Mott and replacing Heinrich Klaasen (who had stepped down) with Raza as the captain.Seattle Orcas had a new man directing traffic – Sikandar Raza•Sportzpics for MLC

Wickets fell early, which is normal when Trent Boult has the new ball. In his first over, the second of the innings, Boult sent back Josh Brown. And in his next, Boult got rid of Shayan Jahangir too. but Jahangir and Kyle Mayers had made sure that the runs were coming too. Quite a lot, in fact.If MINY had scored 62 for 2 in their powerplay, Orcas got to 86 for 3, and that was down to Raza, who walked out, faced just nine balls, hit six of them for fours and one of them for six, and was dismissed for 30. Impetus gained, that too from the new captain.The old captain wasn’t bad either. Klaasen scored 26 from 13, and Orcas had their 100 by the eighth over and were 137 for 4 at the halfway stage. It shouldn’t have been tough from there, with just over 100 to get, but wickets fell, and it came down to Hetmyer, who appeared to have hurt his groin not long after walking out.Nicholas Pooran returned to form with a 60-ball 108*•Sportzpics for MLC

That didn’t stop him, though. Orcas were always in touch with the asking rate, and Hetmyer stepped it up in the 16th over, taking Delano Potgieter for 18 runs.MINY hit back via Rushil Ugarkar and Boult, who gave away just three and seven in the next two overs. The equation was now 32 from 12.Hetmyer hit three sixes off Ehsan Adil to bring the game down to nine needed off six. But Jasdeep Singh missed connecting with the first two balls from Pollard, both slowers, and after a couple of singles and a double off the fifth ball, it was all or nothing. And for once this season, Orcas avoided coming up with nothing.Earlier, the start was far from ideal for MI New York after they were asked to bat, Quinton de Kock falling in the first over to Mayers. Monank Patel did partner Pooran for a stand of 56 runs, which took their powerplay score to 62, but it wasn’t one of Monank’s better days, as he got his 20 from 14 balls, Pooran doing most of the scoring.Tajinder Singh and Nicholas Pooran added 158 runs for the third wicket in quick time•Sportzpics for MLC

Monank’s slowness was shown up big time by his USA team-mate, Tajinder. In fact, Tajinder showed up Pooran too. Their partnership for the third wicket was worth 158 runs, and it came in 68 balls. Of the 158, Tajinder scored 95. In just 35 balls. How quick was that? He fell trying to pull Gerald Coetzee over deep square leg, but holed out at the ropes. Better connection, and he would have had a 35-ball century. The MLC record is 34 balls, scored by Finn Allen earlier this season.Of course, Pooran was slow only in comparison. He contributed 60 to the partnership off only 33 balls.By the time Tajinder fell, his 95, scored at a strike rate of 271.42 comprising eight fours and eight sixes, Orcas were gasping. The scoreboard read 218 for 3, and three overs were left. And Pooran was still there.But it unravelled for MI New York from there. Over No. 18, from Mayers, went for just four runs, and included the wicket of Pollard for a two-ball duck. No. 19 went for eight – with Pooran bringing up his century – and the last went for just seven. That’s 19 from 18, only one of those balls going for a four. Looking back, MINY will know that’s where it went wrong for them.

Duo both pass fifty in 102-run opening stand as Elwiss makes winning return to former home

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Jul-2025Georgia Elwiss returned to Utilita Bowl to place a perfect anchoring fifty and give The Blaze the ideal springboard ahead of the Vitality Blast Women’s Finals Day.All-rounder Elwiss spent the last four years at the Bowl-based Southern Vipers before moving to The Blaze in the winter – and scored 53 not out, having batted the whole innings.She had put on 102 and 49 with fellow fifty-maker Marie Kelly and Kathryn Bryce as Hampshire Hawks were set 164.Cassidy McCarthy took 1 for 5 in her three powerplay overs (ending with 1 for 15) to stifle Hawks to a position they couldn’t recover – eventually reaching just 137 to lose by 27 runs, despite fifties for Rhianna Southby and Georgia Adams.The Blaze had already qualified for The Kia Oval showpiece on July 27, where they will face Bears, with Surrey waiting in the final.The Blaze were inserted on a pitch used for the first MetroBank ODI against India, and proceeded to rack up the runs.Kelly’s Blast had been besieged by starts, and a pair of 40s. Here she took control of the powerplay with five boundaries – with The Blaze racing to 56 without loss.Kelly then took Adams for 14 runs and Mary Taylor for 11 to reach her fifty in 36 balls.But she departed when she scooped to short third for 57 – after an opening stand of 102 – but Kathryn Bryce continued where she left off to combine for 49 with Elwiss.None of the visiting batters took undue risks as they simply totted up the runs in a straightforward manner.Kathryn Bryce was lbw to Adams, and Ellyse Perry dismissed Sarah Bryce and Heather Graham in successive balls to end the penultimate over, but it couldn’t stop a tricky total being reached.Elwiss, who played 70 times for Southern Vipers, reached her fifth half-century of the competition in a patient 43 balls to become the fifth-highest scorer in the Blast.Despite Ella Claridge getting stumped in the last over, The Blaze posted 164 – which looked an even better score after internationals Perry and Freya Kemp had been and gone by the end of the third over.Both Kathryn Bryce and McCarthy found excellent movement with the new ball, with the former dislodging a scooping Perry and the latter getting Kemp caught behind.Southby and Adams struggled to recover the rate, as they got stuck in a rhythm of singles, as boundaries became a rare commodity and twos rarer still.They put on 105 in 90 balls – with Southby’s 50 coming in 42 balls and Adams’ in 45.When Adams was caught for 57 there was still 47 required from two overs, but it was never on, with Southby run out for 61.

Williamson, Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert sign casual playing agreements with NZC for 2025-26

Alex Malcolm15-Sep-2025Kane Williamson will miss the upcoming T20I series against Australia but is committed to playing in the T20 World Cup after signing a casual playing agreement with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) alongside Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert.The five players were not among the 20 centrally contracted New Zealand players announced in June for the 2025-26 season but have signed casual agreements in order to have some flexibility between playing for New Zealand, remaining within the high-performance system, and taking up franchise opportunities overseas.Allen, Seifert and Ferguson have existing BBL contracts that will see them play in Australia while the New Zealand Super Smash is taking place. New Zealand women’s captain Sophie Devine has signed a similar agreement for 2025-26 as she intends to retire from ODI cricket after the upcoming World Cup in India but remains available for T20Is.Related

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Williamson did not play in New Zealand’s most recent Test series against Zimbabwe and also missed the T20I tri-series that preceded it. Instead he played in the T20 Blast for Middlesex, and two County Championship games, as well as the Hundred for London Spirit.NZC stated that to be eligible for the casual playing agreement, players were required to commit themselves to the T20 World Cup campaign which included home series against Australia, England and the West Indies ahead of the tournament in India and Sri Lanka in February and March. It had previously been confirmed that Allen would miss the Australia matches, to be played from October 1-4 in Mount Maunganui, after undergoing foot surgery.An exception has been made for Williamson who has made himself unavailable for the series.NZC CEO Scott Weenink said the casual agreements were sensible arrangements in a T20 World Cup year.”With such a pinnacle event on the horizon we wanted to ensure our best T20 players were ready and available to push for inclusion,” he said. “The casual agreements are a commitment from the players to NZC and the Black Caps, and in return NZC will offer our full support to these players as part of our high-performance system.”The message from the players is that playing for the Black Caps is hugely important to them and I’m pleased we’ve been able to agree terms to have them casually contracted for the coming season.”Rob [Walter] and the team have a massive period of cricket ahead, home and away, and I know myself along with all of our fans can’t wait to follow and support.”New Zealand’s squad to face Australia will be named later this week.

The WPL has decided to have an auction purse of INR 15 crore for the auction, with deductions based on the number of players retained

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Oct-2025Franchises can retain a maximum of five players ahead of the mega auction for the 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). ESPNcricinfo has learned that the deadline for announcing retentions is November 5, which has been communicated to the teams, and the auction window will be between November 25 and 29.In an email to franchises on Thursday, the WPL said a maximum of three capped Indian players, a maximum of two overseas players, and a maximum of two uncapped Indian players can be retained by each team. And if a franchise opts to retain five players, then at least one should be an uncapped Indian player. The WPL has also for the first time decided to allow franchises to activate the right-to-match (RTM) option at the auction to buy back a player that was part of their squad in 2025.The WPL has decided to have an auction purse of INR 15 crore for the auction and has listed the guideline prices for the retention slabs (check graphic below). The slabs listed are: INR 3.5 crore (Player 1), INR 2.5 crore (Player 2), INR 1.75 crore (Player 3), INR 1 crore (Player 4) and INR 50 lakh (Player 5).If a franchise opts to retain five players, INR 9.25 crore would be deducted from its purse, while for four, the deduction would be INR 8.75 crore; for three it would be INR 7.75 crore; four two INR 6 crore; and for one INR 3.5 crore. A franchise can use a maximum of five RTMs, but in case it retains five players, then the RTM option would be lost. In case a franchise retains four players, it will be left with one RTM; for three, there will be two RTMs; for two, three RTMs; and for one, four RTMs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The WPL has said franchises can negotiate a different amount to the guideline price listed in the retention slabs, but if the actual amount paid is higher than the slab, then that amount would be deducted from the auction purse. A minimum of INR 50 lakh has been set for an uncapped India player, but that could be higher based on the agreed amount between the franchise and player.The WPL has also announced the timelines for various steps in the lead-up to the auction. The player retention list must be submitted by November 5. The franchises must then share their lists for the players at the auction by November 7. The last date for player registration is November 18. And November 20 is when the BCCI will share the list of players at the mega auction.

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to yet another bizarre twist in the Daniel James saga, as Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins has resigned.

Leeds looked all set to secure the signing of James right up until the final moments of deadline day.

The Swansea starlet passed his medical at Elland Road on Thursday afternoon, and spent the rest of the day in Leeds waiting for the deal to go through.

Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video below…

Of course, the deal collapsed after disagreements over the structure of the deal, per The Yorkshire Evening Post, and now the man behind the ordeal has stepped down.

As reported by the BBC, Jenkins, 55, has left the Welsh club after nearly 17 years at the helm.

The Swans underwent a bizarre transfer deadline day, as Leroy Fer and James both stayed against all odds but the likes of Wilfried Bony and Tom Carroll departed.

Adam Pope of The Yorkshire Evening Post claims it was Jenkins who wanted James to stay, and loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to the news on Twitter…